Full Interview with Alleged Killer Sheds Light on Relationship

COLUMBIA - The full video of KOMU 8's interview with murder suspect James Thompson conducted Thursday, April 11 before his arrest, reveals a glimpse of Thompson's claimed relationship with his alleged victim, Brian Daniels.

KOMU 8 reporters Lauren Bale and William Joy conducted the interview Thursday evening. At that time, Thompson had not yet been arrested as a suspect in the case. He consented to the interview and met the reporters outside the residence where the crime took place.

Columbia Police responded to an April 10 call at 2416 Cimarron Drive in Columbia. When authorities arrived they found Daniels dead. In the interview with Bale and Joy, Thompson said he and his mother found Daniels dead after returning to the house for the first time in 24 hours.

The probable cause statement in the case released Tuesday showed discrepancy between what Thompson told Bale and Joy and what police investigation found. According to the interview, Thompson said he arrived in St. Charles in eastern Missouri around 8:00 p.m. on April 9 to visit a friend and buy a bathtub the following morning. But according to cell phone records obtained by the Columbia Police Department, Thompson made a phone call after midnight on April 10 from Columbia. The first call he made from the St. Charles area was around 6:15 a.m. on April 10.

According to the probable cause statement, the friend Thompson visited in St Charles was Glenn Anderson. The statement said Anderson originally told authorities that Thompson arrived around 8:00 p.m. on April 9. Anderson then told authorities he had lied and when Anderson went to bed around 11:30 p.m. on April 9 Thompson had not yet arrived. When Anderson woke up on April 10, Thompson was asleep on the couch.

The statement said when authorities were interviewing Anderson, he made a call to Thompson and told him that he was being interviewed by Columbia police detectives. At some point in the phone call, the statement says Thompson asked Anderson if the detectives were inquiring whether Thompson owned any guns.

Columbia Police later served a search warrant to Thompson and said when searching his car, they found an ammunition clip that was missing three bullets. Daniels had three gun shot wounds in his body when police arrived to the scene.

When authorities searched the house, they said they found legal documents including a new will that was signed and notarized in early February. When authorities questioned Anderson of St. Charles, they said he told them that Thompson requested Anderson to purchase a notary public stamp in order to notarize Daniels' new will. The statement said Daniels will had been changed to have Thompson as the only beneficiary and to give Thompson Daniels' power of attorney. The statement said the legal documents were notarized by Anderson and the witness signees were Jacqueline Miller, Thompson's mother and Christopher Hurt.

The statement said when Hurt was originally questioned, he gave false statements to authorities and is now charged with hindering prosecution. When the search warrant for Hurt's home was served, police said cocaine was also found and he was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

In the interview with KOMU 8 News, Thompson said he had keys to the house and claimed to live with Daniels as his partner. But in the probable cause statement, the Columbia police talked about prior 911 calls involving the residence at 2416 Cimarron Drive. One of the incidents had Daniels claiming Thompson had been stealing items from the house and pawning them at local pawn shops. Daniels informed authorities that he changed the locks on April 5, 2013.